Featured photos

Canada got the last hurrah at the Celebration of Light Saturday evening, closing the three-night event with a winning display. Canada was declared the winner of the event, with Brazil and China finishing second and third, respectively.

Dorazio long-time witness to history-making Simon

Photograph by: Handout
, Vancouver Sun

In another time and place, Dan Dorazio was the brains behind the University of Maryland's "Red Storm" offence, a run-and-shoot attack that was one of the most productive in U.S. major college football 20 years ago.

Maryland's offensive coordinator was also the man who recruited a rail-thin, six-foot-one, 155-pound receiver from Johnstown, Pa., by the name of Geroy Simon.

"I think every day about the record Geroy is about to achieve, because we go back a long way," said Dorazio, now the B.C.'s offensive line coach. "He was being recruited by Penn State and Pitt and any other big school you could name in the East. We thought Geroy would fit in really well with our run-and-shoot, and we were right. He had great success from the start."

Dorazio hasn't had a lot of time to dwell on the CFL record the 36-year-old Simon is about to achieve, possibly tonight in the Lions' 2012 season opener against the Winnipeg Blue Bombers at B.C. Place Stadium. Simon needs 67 more yards to surpass Milt Stegall as the league's all-time reception yards leader. Stegall, CFL commissioner Mark Cohon, and Lions GM Wally Buono will be on hand for a brief acknowledgement of the feat, if it should occur during the course of the game.

Dorazio instead has been more wrapped up sorting out the fluid situation on his offensive line, which lost three potential starters -- Dean Valli, Jesse Newman and Jon Hameister-Ries -- in the first week of training camp. Valli and Newman are still unavailable, but Hameister-Ries is back following arthroscopic knee surgery and will line up at left guard. Matt Norman is being slotted a right guard, and has looked to be the closest to a sure thing as a rookie O-lineman can be.

There's really no sure thing in football, of course, and no guarantee that Simon will break Stegall's record tonight and keep the celebration from being postponed for another week.

But as the Maryland recruiter who made a great catch in August, 1993, when he snagged the G-Man for the Terrapins of the Atlantic Coast Conference, Dorazio wants to be a witness to history, perhaps more than anyone in the building except Simon himself.

He was there when Simon set a Maryland record with 16 catches in a game against Florida State, and he watched him haul in 77 in his sophomore season that bettered the Maryland and ACC record.

"All he ever did was make plays. That's why we recruited him," Dorazio said. "He was a playmaker. Our talent level was below that of other teams we were playing at the time. We really needed him. And we got a diamond."

Simon, in fact, was wearing literal diamonds, not figurative ones, Friday as he showed off his 2011 Grey Cup ring in a media scrum. He and Dorazio have been part of two Grey Cup championships together in their nine-year professional association with the Lions, during which Simon has made 786 catches for 13,120 yards, moving him within one long bomb of surpassing Stegall.

"I saw him as a 17-year-old high schooler, and I see him today as a 36-year-old professional, and the thing that still jumps out at me is his sheer talent," Dorazio said. "When I first met him, he was shy, quiet young man, tremendously humble. He always listened, never stepped out of line, the kind of young man you want in your program.

To play major college football, as a true freshman, against that kind of competition, right out of high school, you've got to have some self-confidence. And he had that. Which, he obviously still does today."

Jermaine Lewis, a U.S. national prep sprint champion in 1992, and the only Terrapin to achieve more catches than Simon in his career at Maryland, went on to become a two-time Pro Bowler and Super Bowl champion (Baltimore Ravens). The NFL dream, however, didn't work out for Simon, who spent the 1999-2000 seasons in Winnipeg, tried to catch on with the Kansas City Chiefs, then got cut and returned to the CFL.

He chose the Lions over the Bombers on his second go-round because "Winnipeg's receiving corps was loaded. They had Milt and Arland Bruce, and I liked my chances better here [B.C.]"

It was a story that, frustratingly, had been part of Simon's NFL experience, too.

"For whatever reason, he couldn't fit in there [NFL], because he went to teams that were glutted with young players at the receiver positions," Dorazio said. "He definitely had the talent to play in that league. Still, today, he is exactly the player I thought he would be. He was a great athlete then [college] and he's a great athlete now. When Geroy came into the CFL, I knew he would make plays. And he's still doing it."

We encourage all readers to share their views on our articles and blog posts. We are committed to maintaining a lively but civil forum for discussion, so we ask you to avoid personal attacks, and please keep your comments relevant and respectful. If you encounter a comment that is abusive, click the "X" in the upper right corner of the comment box to report spam or abuse. We are using Facebook commenting. Visit our FAQ page for more information.